58 LAMPRONESSA SPONSA 



Una Duck. Nearly all writers, however, including the eastern observers, mention 

 acorns as an important article of the food (Bailey, MS.; Kumlien and Hollister, 

 1903; Barrows, 1912; B. H. Warren, 1890; etc.). Beyer, Allison, and Kopman (1907) 

 state that the seeds of the water chinquapin (Nelumbium luteum) are important as 

 food and are responsible to some extent for the present abundance of the species in 

 parts of Louisiana. Nuttall (1834) saw a stomach full of small coleoptera called 

 Donatius which, being very wary, he was surprised that the Carolina Duck could 

 capture. In Florida (U.S. Biological Survey notes) residents say they eat cypress 

 "balls" or "cones" and Government collectors found these in their stomachs. Other 

 Florida food comprised "paint root" (Gyrotheca tinctoria) and the seeds of various 

 rushes. The stomach of one taken in eastern Massachusetts in September was 

 crammed with the pea-sized seeds of the water-arum (Peltandra undulata). 



These ducks do not so often tip up in feeding as the Mallard-like species and secure 

 most of their food on or near the surface simply by immersing the head and neck. 



Courtship and Nesting. The actual courtship of the Carolina Duck has, of 

 course, been very often seen and described from captive or semi-wild specimens, but 

 not often from the wild. Audubon mentions the bowing movements of the drake's 

 head and the raising of the crest, and his chivalric conduct toward his mate. Hein- 

 roth (1911), however, gives by far the most satisfactory account based upon his 

 full-winged Berlin Garden stock. In contrast to the common fresh-water or true 

 ducks, the Carolina Duck, he says, has not the highly developed social play which 

 takes place in the autumn or winter. In place of it there is what he terms an "elab- 

 orate chivalry." This may take place at any time of the year, and especially in the 

 evening. The females excite the males by a certain position and by uttering their 

 calls. The males then swim as closely as possible together, erect their crests, and 

 chirp or whisper in various pitches, trying to crowd one another away from the 

 vicinity of the female. Occasionally there are battles, but these do not occur except 

 when superfluous males are present. These conflicts are never serious, although the 

 combatants may be shrouded in a cloud of spray. They apparently never use their 

 bills, though the skin of these birds is exceedingly tender. "Hounding," by which 

 is meant the mated females' biting and scolding of other males to incite their own to 

 fight, is seldom seen in the Carolina Duck. Courting males have been noted both by 

 Heinroth and by Finn (1904) picking up food in their bills and offering it in the most 

 gallant fashion to the female, a trait which has never before been noticed in any 

 member of the Anatidce. In the actual mating the female may lie perfectly motionless 

 on the water for many minutes, while the male, close behind her, carries out the well- 

 known dipping motion, bringing his head rapidly upward again. Considerable time is 

 spent in the preparations for mating but the mating act is not followed by any postlude. 

 The male merely swims away somewhat toward the side with head highly raised. 



